The Unlucky Tenants
by Cresentgenisi
Summary: Mai is an average teenage girl. She lives at home with her parents and college age sisters, but she keeps having visions of a boy in black that yells at her. Occasionally she has random memories of a magical and fantastic job she use to have. Mai knows her memories are real and not her imagination, but nobody believes her. Can she find out the truth before something bad happens?
1. Prologue

**Story: The Unlucky Tenants**

_**Prologue**_

_ Day 1 Saturday Morning_

Mai Taniyama opened her eyes.

The room she was laying in was both familiar and strange.

_ Where am I?_

Sitting up, she looked around.

Light filtered in from the window by her bed, illuminating the otherwise dark room. It looked like her bedroom. Items cluttered the space like normal.

There was last week's laundry still in the basket that she forgot to fold up. On the floor lay her school uniform and socks from the previous day. Shoes were piled up in the corner. Her bathroom door was opened. On her desk by her computer sat her book bag with the binders and books spilling out. Posters of various rock groups and movies lined her walls. Her childhood toy chest sat at the foot of her bed. Pictures of family and friends scattered the surfaces of her dresser by her bed.

Typically, Mai kept her apartment clean, but her room was her sanctuary. She kept it messy because it made her feel less alone when she slept at night. On her dresser lay her key. It was the key to the old house where she lived as a child with her parents. It brought her comfort to keep it close to her.

Both of her parents were dead.

Mai was an orphan, who lived alone.

Mai said quietly, "I can't put my finger on it, but something is definitely off." She tried to remember what she had done before going to bed.

A noise was coming from another room. It sounded like a news broadcast.

_ That's funny. I don't remember leaving the TV on last night._

No matter how much she thought about it, Mai could not remember the previous night's events.

_I think yesterday was Friday, and I went out with my friends._

As she thought on it, an idea came to her head. _Oh crap! I'm going to be late for work!_ She jumped out of bed.

In her haste, her hip hit her dresser.

"Ah!" she screamed and fell to the floor.

Through tears, she cursed the furniture, "Today you threw the first punch stupid dresser, but I will win the war!"

Mai fully believed that inanimate objects in her life were conspiring to get her. Her random actions had nothing to do with how she always managed to get hurt by everyday items.

She made record time dressing.

As she was brushing her teeth, she heard someone in her bedroom.

Mai froze.

Walking to the bathroom door, Mai hesitantly reached toward the knob. It slowly turned.

The door was flung opened, hitting Mai in the face.

"Ah!" Mai cried. She was thrown backwards, her toothbrush went flying. She heard it clatter somewhere in her tub.

_Great! I am going to have to get a new toothbrush._

Holding her face, Mai at first didn't see who had opened the door.

"Mai are you in here?" said a woman's voice that Mai recognized.

Glancing up in shock, Mai saw who it was.

Her mother stood there with her hair braided to the side wearing the ugly yellow sweater she was so fond of and a white apron that was slightly tarnished with overuse.

"Oh there you are silly." Her mom smiled then frowned. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Mom?" whispered Mai.

"Who else would I be? Hurry and come downstairs. Breakfast has already been served. Your sisters have already left, but your dad is watching TV still."

_ Huh? Dad? Sisters?_

Her mother closed the door before Mai could say anything.

_ What is going on?_

Mai's parents died. And she did not have any siblings.

Hesitantly, she made her way out of her bedroom. Like a ninja, she stealthily darted down the hall until she came to a balcony over a living room. Spying down on the two people below, Mai realized that she was not in her apartment. She was in a house. It looked like the house she lived in as a child.

A man sat on a couch watching the news.

He called out, "The prime minister is at it again."

There was a kitchen area where Mai could observe someone moving around. She could not see who it was.

"You know I don't want to hear that," her mother said.

_Mom must be in the kitchen. I have to see her again!_

Mai looked around. She saw stairs to her right. If she could move quietly, maybe she could get to the kitchen without being noticed.

Silently creeping down them, she tried to sneak to their first floor. Looking through the banister the whole way, she ended up tripping hallway down. The commotion caused the man to jump up.

"What is that?"

It was her dad.

Her mom rushed out of the kitchen.

"Mai! Are you ok?"

Standing up, Mai questioned them, "Mom? Dad?"

She flew down the rest of stairs.

"Mom!" Mai exclaimed excitedly. She flung herself at her mom giving her a huge hug.

"Hey, what is this?" Her mom said.

"I am just so happy to see you." Mai cried.

Her dad spoke up, "Mai are you feeling ok?"

Mai turned to see her dad. She had not seen the man in years. He died when she was a child.

"Dad?" she approached him slower than her mother.

"Yes?"

Mai was momentarily confused. Her dad died when she was a little girl.

"I am fairly jealous of that hug you just gave your mother. I wish somebody appreciated me like that." He said in a huff.

Mai smiled. Her hesitation vanished and she jumped him.

"I love you dad."

He wrapped his arms around her, "I love you too little one." He mumbled into her hair.

Pushing back, Mai smiled. She was so happy.

"Your sisters are already up, sleepy head. Hurry up and eat. We left you some food. It is probably cold."

"Sisters? I don't have any sisters."

Mai's feelings suddenly changed. A cold feeling went through her. Something was not right.

"Dad? Mom? Aren't you dead?"

The man who looked like my father frowned at me, "What? Are you feeling ok?"

Mai's mother came to her and put her hand on Mai's forehead. "You don't feel like you have a fever," she said. "You probably had a bad dream. You know how you always had weird dreams when you were younger."

Mai became confused again. Her eyes roamed over everything.

_ Why do I feel like this?_

She suddenly spotted the clock.

9:00…..

"Ah! I am late!" Mai ran to the kitchen, barely noticing her parents' blank looks.

A plate was on the table with a glass of water beside it. She started chomping down the food hurriedly. Her mother followed her into the kitchen. Her dad leaned against the back of the couch.

"Late for what dear?" asked her mom. Her mom snatched her hand. "Chew slower otherwise you are going to chock."

Mai spoke through a mouth full of food, "I gotta ho into worg. He gonna gill may."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," commanded her mom.

Swallowing, Mai yelled, "I have to get to work! I am supposed to go in at 9:00 on Saturdays. He is going to kill me if I don't get there on time."

Her parents laugh. "What work are you talking about? Who is going to kill you?"

"Uh, my job." Mai gave them an annoyed face.

They looked at each other with amusement. "I think she is still asleep. Baby you don't have a job," smiled my dad.

"Yes I do. I have had it for over a year."

"Oh and what job is that?"

Mai stopped. She couldn't remember, but she was positive that she had a job.

A dark figure appeared in her mind. She could not make out the features, but she could tell it was angry at her for not making tea.

"I make tea."

Her parents both outright laughed.

"What is so funny?" Mai asked cross eyed.

Her mother said, "Mai you don't know how to make tea."

Her dad agreed, "Honey, you would burn water."

Mai started eating again.

"So who is the 'he' that is going to kill you?"

"My boss."

"Why would he kill you?"

"Because he likes me to make tea and hates me to be late."

Her dad wanted to know, "What? He can't make his own tea?"

"Actually he can."

"Well he must be a kind and considerate person to want you to make his tea," said her mom.

Her dad mumbled under his breath, "Or there's something wrong with his taste buds."

"Actually he is a jack-ass. And there might be something wrong with his taste. He is not what you would call ordinary."

"MAI TANIYAMA!" screamed her mother the same time her dad threw a pillow that caught Mai in the face. She fell out of the chair, landing on her butt.

"WE DO NOT TALK THAT WAY IN THIS HOUSE!" her mother's voice boomed causing everything in the room to vibrate.

Mai was suddenly scared.

Her dad looked angry, but tried to calm the mother down, "Honey, it is ok. She just let something slipped."

The mother turned her evil glare to the husband, "AND WHY ARE YOU TAKING UP FOR HER. IT IS YOUR RULE!"

Mai's dad flinched and back up, "Now be reasonable, sweetie. It is too early in the morning to get mad. I was just trying to calm you down."

A frying pan suddenly appeared out of nowhere flying toward the dad's head. He dodged the attack. He then proceeded to avoid a wave of spoons and dishes that followed before hurrying back to the living room. As he took cover behind the couch, Mai was pretty sure she heard him say, "Nice going kid. You are on your own."

Once her dad was out of sight, Mai's mother turned her sights back on her daughter. The mother had a furious, indomitable aura.

"I am sorry mom," Mai apologized as she stood up.

Her mom looked angry for another couple of seconds, and then popped into the appearance of someone completely serene and peaceful. "Of course! Apology accepted."

_I forgot about Mom's bipolar streak. _Mai's mother was a sweet woman, who could get riled up at the littlest of things.

"If you want to go somewhere," her mom said, "Your sisters already left so hang with them. Only I wish you would study this morning instead of waiting until tonight. Your end of the year exams is around the corner, and you know we want you to get into a good college program like Rin and Koharu."

_ Something doesn't feel right._

Mai sat down again and reached to for my glass of water. She was very thirsty and hadn't drunk anything yet.

A boy's reflection appeared in the glass.

"Eeek!" Mai squealed, tipping the glass.

Mai's dad did not even move from where he was now sitting on the couch, "What is it?"

"I thought I saw something in my cup."

Her mom brought some napkins over, "Here let me help you clean this up. I will get you something else to drink."

Mai shook her head, "That is ok. I can get it myself."

Taking the napkins, she cleaned up the spill. Then Mai headed to the refrigerator. Opening it, she looked in. It was completely full. Moving items around, she finally found the milk and pulled it out.

Closed the door, Mai noticed a boy with black clothes standing beside her.

"Mai" he said.

Surprised, Mai jumped squealing again. The milk in her hand fell.

The boy had dark hair and blue eyes.

"Mai, you have to wake up."

"W-ho, who are you?"


	2. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One: Ghostly Inhabitants**_

_12 hours before the prologue… _

"This looks like the place!" Keiko exclaimed to her three friends.

The four girls were walking down the street. All of them wore their high school uniforms. It was Friday so the girls had left school with the intention of having fun before going home.

Mai Taniyama inspected the tall, slightly rundown building. "Where are we? This looks like a residential area. I thought we were going to the movies?" she asked.

The other girls did not respond to Mai's question. Instead Keiko, Michiru, and Yuuri looked at each other with conspirator's guilt. Normally, they were trustworthy friends.

Suspiciously, Mai said, "Don't tell me. We aren't going to the movies?"

Mai should have been working this evening at Shibuya Paranormal Research, but today she had asked off. Well, called in sick. She promised her boss that she would make up the time the next week. Her friends had been complaining how between school and Mai's job, they hardly ever got to hang with her anymore.

Hesitantly, Michiru spoke up, "We still plan to go, but we wanted to detour here first."

"Why?"

Keiko said, "Because my cousin lives here and she says there is something strange happening here. She would like your advice. I told her how you worked for an office that studies psychics and ghosts."

"This sounds too much like work to me."

"Then it should be easy for you to do."

"I don't know. You could have just asked."

Keiko frowned, "Even I don't know the whole story. Tamoka, my cousin, has not even told me."

"I feel like lying to my boss is going to bite me in the butt."

Yuuki said, "Is that anything like your boss biting you in the butt?"

Everyone froze in shock.

Mai's mind just froze. The image was both horrifying and erotic, making her brain shut down. She could not even retort a comment.

Michiru spoke up first, "Yuuki! That is so dirty."

"Oh come on! It is not like everyone else didn't think that fit perfectly after I said it." Yuuki frowned at them.

Keiko laughed "I wouldn't mind him taking a bite out of mine."

Mai could easily envision Naru sneezing at that moment. Hopefully he would realize that it was not her SAYING THIS BS! She projected mental images of bunny rabbits his way.

Keiko patted Mai's shoulder. Mai jumped.

"Hey don't be so stressed. This is a fun day."

"Yea, f-u-n. Whoo-hoo," said Mai glumly.

_ So I am skipping work so I can work…_

"Thanks guys! Soooo much!" Mai said sarcastically as she slumped down. _Naru is going to kill me!_

Yuuki marched up to Mai's other side and linked arms with her. "We will make it up to you."

Michiru commented, "What is so bad Mai? I know you complain about him, but Kazuya has always seemed nice to us."

Mai's friends had met her boss months ago. He had used his charm, which had won them over. They were still fawning over him. At the time, he had introduced himself as Kazuya Shibuya. She knew that was a lie. His real name was Dr. Oliver Davis, but Mai could not tell them that.

Mai stared at the ground. "That is because you don't know him."

"Come on girls." Yuuri called, already at the entrance.

"Some friends," Mai muttered. _Maybe he wouldn't find out about the lie. _

A voice inside her head told her she was not that lucky.

As the girls entered the apartment building, Mai felt something pulling at her pocket. She reached in to find the key to her childhood home. She wore it as a charm, a sacred token that reminded her of her parents. It felt really heavy in her hands.

_ That's strange…_

"Come on," Keiko said. "My family lives on the eighth floor. Apartment 824." She led the rest of the girls to an elevator.

As they moved further toward the interior of the building, Mai felt a prickling on her neck as if somebody was watching her. She kept glancing back, hoping to get a glimpse of something, but she never saw anything.

They rode the elevator up with no mishaps.

The eighth floor was a spooky place. Paint peeled from the walls, which was that nasty tan color people painted schools with. The carpet had probably at one time been a deep burgundy color, but at some point it had faded to look like mud. The lights flickered every now and then.

Mai would have paid major cash to be anywhere else at the moment.

Keiko found the apartment and knocked.

A man opened the door. He was tall and in his late twenties. He had dull brown hair and bangs.

"Yes?" He said in a monotone voice.

"Shigure-sama, it is nice to see you." Keiko said cheerfully. "Remember I was going to come by and bring my friends?"

All the girls bowed. The man did not even acknowledge the action but held the door wider for them to enter.

_ Wow! Real friendly guy_

The apartment had a comfortable middle class atmosphere to it. It was not elaborately decorated, but had some comforting furniture and plants that scattered the living room. A large TV screen hung on one wall. On the other was a painting of a beach. Charms hung beside the door, and a small Buddha statue sat on a coffee table by the couch.

A slightly plump woman with short, curly red hair stepped into the living room. She dried her hands on a dishtowel before stuffing the rag into her apron pocket. She greeted Keiko warmly. Keiko in turn made the introductions. The husband, Shigure, left them to move into a backroom.

"This is Mai Taniyama. She works with people who investigate the paranormal."

Mai bowed then said, "Please explain what has happened to make you seek advice on this subject."

The lady, Tamoka, said, "Well it was not so bad when we first moved in here. We have lived here for about a year. This apartment was cheaper than our last and closer to my husband's work." Her voice was soft and lacked some of the emotion of the earlier greeting.

Mai thought she detected the glisten of tears in Tamoka's eyes. Before continuing with the story, Ms. Tamoka offered to get drinks for everybody before walking away.

"She seems nice," said Yuuki.

Keiko didn't answer. She was very watchful in the direction Tamoka left.

Michiru said, "She seems a bit absent minded."

Mai offered, "Maybe she is just worried. She seems stressed."

Tamoka returned. Her hands shook a bit as she poured tea. Distributing the cups, she accidently spilt some of the contents on Michiru's hand.

"Ow!"

Tamoka apologized, "I am so sorry!" She reached into her apron for her towel and wiped the liquid off Michiru's hand. Tamoka asked Michiru if she needed medicine.

Michiru confessed, "I think it is ok. It did hurt a bit, but it more surprised me than anything,"

There was silence.

Mai broke the quietness by asking again for the story.

"Honestly we are all rattled nerves here," Tamoka admitted, "I do not mean just in this apartment, but everyone who lives in this building. The children seem like the only ones that are fine. I have talked to our neighbors. We all have the same experience. First, we do not get much sleep anymore because of the tapping sounds that come at night. It is similar to knocks but lighter."

Tamoka went on to say that all kinds of strange things happen. They had heard untraceable music. Sometimes shadows jump across the room.

"Items are also taken. They are typically sentimental items that are not worth much therefore, nobody has reported theft. At first, we thought we had misplaced things. Then the missing stuff became so common that we thought the children did it. I started talking to my friends and they said the same thing happen to them. But the worse thing is the children."

Many ideas were running through Mai's head. She hated cases that affected children.

Tamoka said, "Sometimes the children disappear. They are gone a good length of time. Once I even called the police, but they reappear. They never seem to have a memory of where they were. It is really scary. That is why I wanted to seek advice. If we can't find a reason for these problems then we will move. I just hate to move again. This location works so well, and I have made some new friends."

The lady turned her pleading gaze at Mai. "So you think your office will take the case?"

Mai was uncomfortable in answering, "Well I can never really tell with Naru, but I definitely think you should stop by. He might not take it because of unwanted publicity. This is a really huge building."

Tamoka smiled, "There is actually not that many people inhabiting the building. That is why it looks so worn down. Most people, especially young couples and people with children, have moved out already.

"It seems like it is the work of ghosts and they do not want anyone around."

Yuuki spoke up, "Has anyone actually died here?"

"Well older places will have histories of deaths. Elderly people die all the time. Accidents will happen. There are some rumors about tragic deaths in the past, but I had not heard of them until recently. One of the stories involves a college girl who had moved from the country. She jumped from the building, or was pushed, but they found a suicide note. I think that might be something you would call suspicious?"

"Well if we took the case, we would research previous tenants and deaths. Naru and Yasu are good at that." She thought on it. "Naru might be interested in this case. If he is not, I will try to persuade him to take it. You just need to come by the office to fill out papers. I could have brought a form if I had known I was coming," Mai stopped to glare at her friends before continuing, "If he is there when you come, I will try to get you an interview. I am working tomorrow, which would be an awesome time for you to come."

Tamoka bowed her head. "That is all I can ask. And I will try to come. I might have to bring the kids with me. They are studying right now; otherwise, I would introduce you. They had a toy fight and refused to clean up their mess. So even though it is Friday, they have to do their homework."

Mai asked, "How old are your children?"

"I have a boy, Toki, and a girl, Saiya. She is ten, and Toki is six."

Mai didn't have any more questions. Quietly everyone sipped their tea. They put their cups on the tray when they were done. Seeing the conversation was over, the girls thanked the lady for her hospitality. All the girls stood up, and Keiko hugged her cousin.

Mai turned to Tamoka and said, "Please don't mention that I was here. I took off from work today. It would look bad for me to say I was traveling with my friends tonight."

Tamoka promised that she and her husband would not utter a word.

Thanking them for their hospitality, Mai left with the girls.

With a sigh of resignation, Mai tried to think on the problem, but all she could do was think about how her life will suck tomorrow if Tamoka gave away Mai's secret.

Walking down the narrow hall, Michiru said, "I'm glad that is over. I seriously felt something was wrong as soon as we went in the room. Really that feeling has not left."

Yuuki folded her arms, "Me too, but brrrrr… It is cold in here."

The hallway was at least ten degrees lower than it was when they arrived.

Keiko agreed.

Yuuki said, "I don't think it was that cold when we came in."

Mai said, "I don't want to freak anyone out, but the temperature always drops before a spirit makes an appearance."

Everyone laughed.

The light flickered.

"Yea, right Mai. You, you are just trying to s-scare us." Keiko stammered.

Michiru trembled, "She doesn't have to try; I am scared."

The lights went off.

The girls screamed grabbing each other.

Light suddenly flooded the corridor. The temperature also seemed to rise.

"Wow! That was seriously creepy," said Keiko.

"Let's get out of here! I don't want to stay another second," shrieked Yuuki. She and Michiru hurried toward the elevator.

Keiko looked back, "What do you think Mai?"

Mai was not behind them.

"Mai?"

Yuuki and Michiru stopped. Turning around, Michiru asked, "Hey Keiko, where is Mai?"

They began to search for Mai, but there was nowhere for the missing girl to have gone.

Growing more worried, all the girls began to shout, "Mai?! Mai?!"

She did not answer.

Their friend had vanished without a trace.


	3. Chapter 2

**Author's Note**: Sorry for the slow update! I have been writing on many different stories while going to school. Been super busy. Plus I was waiting for the right words to hit me for this chapter's scene … And they never really came! BUT I tried my best. I started to write on other stuff instead of randomly throwing something in this story that would confuse people. So hopefully you like it! Super nervous! This is the first time I have truly written from Naru's point of view. So I hope I do him justice because I respect the character so much. This story FORCED me to do it... because Naru has to find out that A) Mai lied and B) Mai is in trouble.

_**Chapter 2: Caught! The Lying Assistant**_

Saturday morning

_(Naru's POV)_

The early morning had thinned most of the crowds that normally occupied Shibuya Street, a place busting of energy. The shops that framed the area were just starting to open. Delicious aromas of omelets, fried fish, and baking breads wafted through the air. A cafe was serving breakfast. On the floor above the cafe, two men strolled into the office of Shibuya Paranormal Research. One man was considerably younger and shorter than the other but excluded an air of complete authority. Dark and broody with a beautiful face, the young man's name was Dr. Oliver Davis, a lead authority on the paranormal although since living in Japan, he had taken on an alias. His alias was Kazuya Shibuya, owner and lead investigator for SPR.

Switching on the lights, the other man, Lin Koujo, held the door open for his boss. Lin was slightly less commanding in appearance but no more approachable, which would be expected from an Onmyouji guarding the son of the head of the British Society of Paranormal Research.

Oliver narrowed his blue eyes in cool dissatisfaction at the state of the office. Neither of his part-time assistants was there, and the room desperately needed to be cleaned. Yesterday's mail, which had been stacked neatly on the front desk, was scattered on the floor. The air conditioner must have blown in during the night. Plus the small plant Mai kept on her desk was starting to wilt. The browner leaves had started to fall, leaving a mesh of compost below the pot.

Oliver had no idea if Mai was coming in today. She had been absent on Friday due to an illness. Yasuhara worked later on weekends because he worked at another part time job through his college.

He hung his jacket up beside Lin's as he thought about the inconvenience of paying assistants who were not around to work.

An image of the high school girl filled his head. The office was different without Mai around. It lacked….

Hot tea…

The taller Chinese man was cleaning up the floor. Assistants who did their work without being told were indispensable, but clearly Lin forgot to do the most important job when maintaining the office.

"Lin?"

"Yes sir?"

"Make tea." With that the Oliver, also known as "Naru" for his narcissistic behavior, took the mail from the stunned Lin before wandering down the hall.

Naru added from his private office, "Oh since Mai and Yasu aren't here, why don't you keep the front desk? Let me know when the tea is ready. Or if we have a client." He then slammed the door shut.

Left outside, Lin stared at the door before looking at the empty front desk, missing Mai.

…

Naru closed the door without another thought about Mai, Lin, or Yasuhara. He sighed as he sorted through the mail, mostly advertisements. The bill for the office's rent was hidden in the junk. He saved the bill and threw away everything else. Moving across the room, he paused at the phone to check the messages.

An automated voice said, "You have ten new messages. Friday 5:00pm"

The first message had a person with an incredibly bubbly voice speaking. "Mr. Shibuya this is your credit agency..."

Click.

"Message was deleted," intoned the telephone.

Yesterday, Lin and Naru had purposely not answered that call after seeing the number.

The automated voice continued to introduce the messages.

The second…

"Hey is this the psychic office over the cafe? Do you guys do any spicy relationship readings? I have this girl..."

Click

"Hey Mai or Naru... Or Lin. This is Monk. Its Friday night if you aren't working maybe you can come over to my concert. I have free backstage passes... "

Naru thought, _Why would you want to bother me with such nonsense? _

Click

Music played. Then someone sung, "Who you going to call…."

Click.

Naru's eyebrow started to twitch.

The next message was Monk again. "This is Takigawa. I know you aren't there. Just wanted to say that I would've loved to seen Naru or Lin's face when that ghost buster song started to play?! Hahaha…"

Click.

The phone began to vibrate.

Typically technology died around Naru when he was alone because he was more relaxed and restrained his PK abilities less.

He inhaled a deep, soothing breath as the next message played. A frantic girl cried, "Is this that research office Mai works for? I need to know if Mai came into work today. If Mai answers this please call me back it's Keiko. My number is..."

Naru paused for a second, considering what he just heard. He replayed the message, taking note of the name and phone number.

The girl's words echoed with an edge of terror.

He did not even bother to listen to the remaining messages, quickly dialing Mai's friend.

It wasn't long before all the girls were gathered in his office to tell their story. Writing down notes, he quietly listened to the girls' story. He did not have to question them. They were ready to tell him everything.

Two seconds into the story, his right eye began to twitch. The girls started off by saying, "Mai was going to the movies with us."

Naru clenched his pen so tightly, the plastic and metal parts almost separated. Inwardly he seethed with rage. _So Mai lied to me_… He was going to enjoy punishing her.

His mouth tightened when they got to Mai's disappearance.

Pushing his mounting anxiety down, Naru hardened himself against feeling anything at all. That was how he remained calm. He simply logically thought through his emotions and chose which ones he would express. This was easy because he naturally inclined to think more with his head than with his heart.

"We went back to the apartment and called the police."

Michiru said, "They weren't able to find her. Because she was an underage girl who lives alone, so they put her on the missing person's list. They also have a person stationed at her home, but this morning she had not come home."

"So the police have been involved?"

The girls nodded.

"Do you know the names of the detectives working the case?"

"Uh…."

Naru really couldn't afford for the police to be poking their overly large noses in his business. Not only would their interference slow down the investigation, but as Mai's employer they might investigate him as a potential suspect. He was already being investigated for Gene's death by the paranormal branch of the law.

Sniffling, Keiko howled, "I just feel so guilty! If I had not brought Mai to see my cousin, she never would have disappeared."

The other girls tried to comfort her, but they were crying too.

Michiru said, "But we tricked Mai into going. She lied to get off work. It is karma punishing us."

"But it was my idea to trick her," admitted Yuuri. She fiddled with her hands in an attempt not to look anyone in the eye as she talked.

Naru calmly closed his book. In a fidget tone, he said, "Did you hold a knife or gun to her head?"

The girls stared at him.

"Do you have the ability to control others with your mind?" He asked.

They shook their heads.

"No?" Naru glared at them, "Do you think that you are so important to blame yourself for her actions? Mai made her decision. You might have tempted her, but her own lack of judgement led her to lie. Mai was told the full story outside the apartment house. She walked willingly into the haunted residence without any protection, which has led to her current predicament. As an investigator in training, she knows the danger of spirits." Before Naru could continue with his speech, an interruption came in the form of a knock on the door.

As the person stepped into the office, Naru and Lin regarded the newcomer in surprise.


	4. Chapter 3

**_Chapter Three: Rin and Koharu_**

…Still Saturday morning

_(Mai's POV)_

"Now this is the life," said Koharu as she leaned back setting down her shopping bags.

Mai and Rin agree with her.

They had just crossed the famous pedestrian crossing in Shibuya. It was before noon, and traffic was murder. The noise was almost unbearable as cars waited for the flood of walkers on the street to stop.

Mai was super tired. Her mom had freaked over the spilled milk incident, and the fact that Mai could not explain why she had dropped it. Frustrated at her lack of memory, Mai kept trying to piece together her morning. She was pretty sure she had seen a dark figure beside the refrigerator, but her mind could not picture it clearly.

The whole situation was distressful.

In the end, her dad had called her sisters to get her out of the house. A remedy was decided in the form of a therapeutic shopping trip.

Fifteen stores, three new handbags, new manicures, and an assorted of clothes later, the girls were hunting for lunch.

Koharu began to drool, "Soooo HUNGRY!"

Rin reached over to pat her stomach. "It is so tiny so you wonder where all the food she eats actually goes." She winked at Mai, who giggled.

Not expecting such a fast quick comeback, Koharu was strangely quiet. Koharu was the more antagonistic of Mai's sisters, probably due to her stature as middle child.

Mai usually hated shopping with Rin and Koharu. Only a bit older than her, they were in college with smoking hot athletic bodies. All three girls were brunettes, but Mai's sisters had longer hair. Koharu wore her hair in a curly style. Currently it was pulled back away from her face in a high pony tail with a gold ribbon. She wore tight pants and a yellow blouse Rin had bangs and straight hair down to her hips. She had a white lacy skirt on with a blue T-shirt that said "World Cup!"

Today, they seem to be going out of their way to make her laugh.

"OMG! What is that smell?" Rin gasped.

It was the smell of heaven in the form of food.

Mai's stomach was a bit queasy so she did not feel like eating.

Rin agreed, "Well exercise works up an appetited. TIME FOR A BREAK!"

People stopped and stared at her exclamation.

Mai and Koharu shrunk away from her.

Rin looked around, "Hey where did you guys go?!" Seeing the two behind her, she glared.

"I am not that embarrassing to be around." With a fling of her hair, she walked away with her sisters trailing her path.

They wandered around trying to discover the source of the tantalizing smells. A nearby café beckoned them.

Mai felt a sense of déjà vu it.

The waiter took their drink orders when they sat down.

Mai lay back and closed her eyes. Rin and Koharu chatted away. Visions of a tall glass of grape soda danced in her head. She did feel a bit dehydrated. Her lips were unbelievably parched like she hadn't drunk anything in over a day.

"Do what?" Mai murmured as she heard her name mentioned.

"It is a shame that you have to leave this to go study. Is the stress starting to get to you? Dad said you were freaking out when you got up like you had a bad dream and then you busted the milk jug when you thought you saw something dark standing close to you."

_Was it dark? _Mai question herself.

"Sounds like you are demented."

Koharu laughed, "Positively psycho, Mai."

Haughtily, Mai claimed, "It takes one to know one.

"Well we are family, I guess."

"Although I have not heard of anyone seeing things like you do." Rin acknowledged.

The waiter dropped off the drinks with gyoza appetizer on the house, and asked for the meal. The girls thanked him for the free food then decided on a Western dish and a chocolate cake to divide amongst themselves.

Koharu scooted her chair closer to Rin before murmuring, "Maybe it is a mutation."

They gazing wide eyed at Mai.

Koharu said, "I'm going to call it the freak gene."

In a flat tone, Mai said, "You still realize, I'm sitting right here."

Koharu and Rin grinned at each other. It was a conspiracy.

Mai started to soak her napkin with the complementary water on the table.

_Two against one? We will see about that._

Rin declared, "I am glad I do not have it."

"Yea, maybe you are adopted!" added Koharu.

"Oh now you are just being mean Koharu!" Mai said as she threw the wet napkin at her sister.

"Ahh!"

Rin and Mai snickered.

Angrily, Koharu stated, "We better be carefully, Koharu. We might get neurological damage just from sitting close to her."

Mai glared before retorting, "I will give you neurological damage."

Koharu warned, "Just wait until the food comes out."

As the oldest, Rin tried to soothe the two "We were being mean. Koharu don't take it any further than it needs to go. Mai, I won't ask you to apologize even though that was childish. This is a nice place so let's try not to get kicked out."

Mai and Koharu turned and yelled at Rin in unison, "This is war!"

Rin sighed, "Whatever… But can you at least act like adults while we are here and wait to finish your petty squabbles later." She calmly took a sip of her drink.

"Aren't you going to eat Mai?"

"I am just going to skip to desert." Mai admitted.

"Down, girl. You have to leave some for us."

"Yea you want to keep that figure sharp."

"So Mai, you like any boys?"

"Well there is this guy I know.

"You have a boyfriend?"

Koharu snorted a "Ha!"

Annoyed, Mai said crossly, "Why do you say that so quickly with that tone of voice? Why do you snort?"

"He is not my boyfriend. I just like him, but I don't love him. In the past, he completely aggravated me. He knew my buttons and tried to push them, but I have learned his too. Therefore it is a more even playing field now. Plus I realize it is not just me. He treats everybody the same. In fact, he probably treats me a bit better than other people."

"Sounds like puppy love?"

"You know guys are mean to girls when they want to get their attention but don't know what to say. It is called aggressive flirting."

"Really? I am not sure I want him to flirt with me."

" Why not?"

"He is very difficult to deal with."

"Then why do you like him."

"I don't know. I just do, but I would prefer…" Mai stopped

Rin said, "Prefer?"

Mai blanked.

"Uh," she laughed patting her head with her hand, "I forgot. The old noggin doesn't work well today. It just seemed like there was somebody else I preferred would flirt with me, but I can't remember anything about him."

Rin smiled, "Love triangle. Interesting."

"Imaginary triangle, you mean." Koharu snipped.

Mai slammed her fist against the table, rattling the glasses. "It is not imaginary!"

Rin made large gestures to divert the attention her way. "Uh… So is he in your class?"

"No I work for him."

The pair on the other side of the table shared a surprised glance.

"Mai you don't have a job?"

Mai frowned. "I don't?"

A small stab of pain seared through Mai's brain. Then it was gone.

"I do have a job." She insisted. Then she looked down in confusion. "Or I use to."

She couldn't remember exactly what she did at her job, but she remembered the emotions she felt. It was hard to sort out when there was nothing she could identify for certain. Mai could not even remember what her boss looked like. She just remembered thinking he was handsome.

Koharu angrily said, "Mai you need to get real about life. That is why you can't handle high school. You imagine all this crap and have fantasies about random stuff. You are getting to old for this. Look at the episode this morning! If you keep this up, you really will go crazy!" Koharu's expression softened. In a gentle voice she pleaded, "Mai I just want you to be ok. Please try to calm your thoughts. You mean so much to me that I don't want anything bad happening to you. You have never had a job. If you know this boy, he must go to your school."

"I am not crazy. Listen! I call the jerk Naru because he is completely narcissistic. When I first met him, it was at school. He was smiling but his smile did not touch his eyes. I knew he was fake. Later I had to work for him and found out he was a complete butthole. He tricked me into working for him. His ego could power Tokyo, but while he acts tough on the outside. He seems lonely, and I know he cares about people, even though he would never admit it. Why would I make up something like that? My creativity is not that good."

Quietly, Rin said, "You have a good memory of him." She had a pitying expression on her face.

Koharu on the other hand was even more furious than before. Her face had turned a blotchy red. She stared at Mai.

Mai's headache intensified.

She leaned back again. Her mind began to zone out.

_What had she just been talking about?_

The food came out, but Mai was not hungry. The pain in her head had lessened, but her stomach felt queasy now. She was about to fall asleep when a feeling went through her. It was vaguely familiar. Restless, she picked her up head.

Her attention became focused on a person in the distance.

Mai stood suddenly.

"Hey Mai! Are you ok?"

"It is him." Mai whispered, almost in a trance.

A boy in black was striding up the stairs beside the café.

"What?"

"The boy wearing the dark clothes, do you see that boy?"

"Who?" Her sisters twisted in their chairs trying to get a better view.

"Right there on the stairs, oh wait he is gone"

"I didn't see anything."

"He is the one! The one I 'envision' this morning by the refrigerator. I know him, but I don't know how."

"Maybe you shouldn't Mai."

Mai was already rushing out. She shouted back, "You guys pay the check, I am going to see!"

Mai ran up the stairs.

_These are steps…It is so familiar to me. I have been here before_, she thought.

There was a blue-gray door.

In the middle of the door was an intricate frosted glass window with the logo "SPR" Underneath the golden calligraphy were the words "Shibuya Psychic Research" and "Shibuya Sikiku Risaachi".

_What does that mean?I guess they investigate ghosts here. _

Mai was not sure how she knew that but like the walk up the stairs it was like a memory from long ago.

She reached for the knob when she heard someone shout her name behind her.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **This chapter is mainly here to give you guys some clues as to what is going on! Some people have had some really great thoughts on my story. Thanks to all the people who have been commenting/reviewing these chapters. You are such a big help! Your comments help me to organize my thoughts, keep me inspired to continue, and get me to see my mistakes.

And… OMG! It was hard to stay in character to write this chapter. I was trying to write Naru's POV so well, and now I want to make him a loud mouth punk with pyrokinesis. Why? Well…. Recently I started watching Fairy Tail and the names Natsu and Naru are too dang similar. Plus the English voice actors for Natsu/Lucy = Naru/Mai. This screwed with my brain so badly… So here is the product of that... FUFUFUFUFU…

_**Chapter Four: That Suspicious Person**_

_(Naru's POV)_

Detective Seigi Hirota sauntered into the SPR office.

He was one of two officials attached to Zero Group, a subunit of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office Special Investigation Department, which was put in charge of cases that are thought to be related to matters like supernatural phenomena, psychic abilities and magic. The zero nickname was a foolish play of the word "rei" meaning both spirit and zero.

Naru and Lin stood in greeting.

Hirota flicked his hand.

"Yo! Lin. Oli-Kazuya. Uh, Naru." Confused, Hirota briefly wondered at how to address Naru.

Lin made a small bow.

Naru acknowledged the newcomer with a nod.

The young investigator stared at the girls on the couch momentarily sizing up the situation. He noticed their school uniforms, red eyes, and blotchy complexions. His demeanor became serious, "So I am guessing you have heard about your assistant Mai Taniyama. I did not know about the case until this morning so I wanted to come over and get some more information. Officially we have closed our investigation of you in your brother's death, but now it seems something horrible has befallen another person close to you. Suspicious..."

The girls gasped.

Annoyed at the accusation, Naru said, "Still playing cop with the Japanese law enforcement? Honestly if I have to solve any more of YOUR cases, you need to pay me."

"Well you have to admit, your friendly nature does nothing to help your case."

"My mind works differently than yours; therefore, it would be hard for you to understand my motivations for the way I act."

"See you make one hell of a bad guy. International genius turns evil. I can see the headlines."

"I suggest you decorate your office with actual cases solved rather than works of fiction. If you are that desperate for a promotion, you have sunk lower than I thought."

They glared at each other, Naru, silent and disciplined, Hirota shaking with uncontrollable anger. Seconds ticked by as a silent battle took place between the two. The tension between the two was almost tangible. Eventually, Hirota calmed down enough to say, "Still narcissistic as ever, I see. We definitely need to get Mai back. She brightens this office. I wouldn't be here telling you I will help you if I actually thought you did anything. I know you care for Mai. "

The girls darted glances at each other with shocked expressions.

Hirota smiled, "Plus it is your time to shine. Your worker is missing from an apparent ghostly encounter."

Calmly, Naru stated, "Your explanation for why you are wasting my time leaves much to be desired. Obviously, I knew you were not here to arrest me. And you aren't sloppy enough to tell your first suspect that he was being investigated. This leaves only two possibilities for why you are here. Either you need information about Mai, or you want to give me information concerning the case."

Hirota crossed his arms. "Am I suppose to be impressed?"

Naru sighed, "I was just testing you to see if you were still as much a pain in the ass as the last case with your illogical convictions and hotheadedness." He returned a half smile that did not reach his eyes, "It seems you are still the same."

Taking his seat again, Naru added, "Detective, you will have my undivided attention in a few moments, but if you will excuse me, my clients were talking to me."

Hirota didn't move.

Naru glanced at him, "Would you mind waiting outside until we finished?"

Hirota took off his suit jacket, throwing it over the couch opposite the girls. "Yea I would. It's starting to get hot out there. Besides…" He sat down before continuing, "I need to talk to these girls too if they are the ones that gave statements to the police last night. So don't order me around."

Naru closed his eyes.

"Lin"

Lin moved aggressively toward the couch.

Hirota shot to his feet. He waved his hands in a "time-out" motion, "Hey now! You aren't going to attack someone who works for the law."

"I think you are on my property without an arrest warrant. So get out."

Silence.

Tension mounted for the second time.

Lin started to escort Hirota out when one of the girls interrupted the interaction. "Excuse me, but we had pretty much finished everything. If you want to talk to us, Detective, we will."

The other girls nodded in agreement.

Keiko said, "Please don't fight. Let's all try to find Mai."

Hirota looked at them. Normally, he was not so good communicating to girls their age. He folded his arms and apologized. "I didn't mean to upset you, ladies. That is ok. I am here to discuss matters with this guy. If I need something, I will call you later. How about that? I can get your number at work."

"Ok!"

Naru scowled at Hirota as he questioned the girls if there was anything else.

Before the girls left, Keiko asked Naru if he wanted her to contact her cousins to set up an introduction. A meeting was planned at the apartment that afternoon after lunch.

Before leaving, Michiru asked, "Kazuya, are you going to find Mai?"

He assured her with complete confidence, "Of course. Nobody takes one of my people."

Comforted by this, the girls smiled as the exited.

Secretly Naru was very worried. For a spirit to snatch Mai so close to the other girls would have to be something very powerful. It was also very aggressive to show itself during the day to a stranger who had been in its territory in less than an hour.

Naru spoke loudly down the hall, "Lin, I am assuming you are contacting everyone."

"Everyone" consisted of the mediums and spiritualists that normally contracted work with SPR.

Lin had left right after his altercation with Hirota had been interrupted. The man walked out of his office carrying the hand held phone. He nodded.

Naru went to sit at his desk. A headache was already developing in Naru's head from the thought of Ayako Matsuzaki and Hirota working together.

Hirota asked, "So you are going to investigate the apartment house?"

Naru murmured, "That is the main option since it was the last place she was seen, and it is a hotspot of paranormal sightings."

"I am not sure about the paranormal stuff, but there have been strange things that have happened at that house." A cd appeared from his pocket. "This is all that I could drag up on the area."

Naru's eyes widened in shock as the man handed the cd to him.

Hirota added, "I thought you might be interested in the background."

"Thanks but we have our own methods of researching that is better than anything you could come up with."

Hirota's eyes crinkled at the sides and a fire lit up behind him. "Look buddy, this was a friendly gesture to mend fences between us for how much a jackass I was in the past." His hand balled into a fist before he said, "So be a normal person and say thank you like everyone else. I can't work this case with you because I might get called to help with the investigation, but if you need anything I will try my best to help out."

Taking the cd, Naru put it in his laptop. As he waited to upload the details, Hirota started to explain, "On the surface, it seems that the place is your average apartment building, but there has been an above average number of deaths and accidents associated with the tenants. You could almost say that it would be unlucky to live there. Something unfortunate seems to commonly happen to the residents. I want to point out two deaths that are interesting.

The first was a college student named Rin Godai, which would put her a little bit older than Mai. The investigative report said the girl had been under stress with classes and had suffered from depression, insomnia, and hallucinations. She jumped to her death from the roof of the building. A year later, another female tenant named Noriko Hyong also jumped to her death. The profiles are different though. The second woman was in her forties, and she had a husband and two children."

"Do the two have any connection besides their death?" Naru asked.

"According to the file, the two had no connections beyond the fact they were female, lived in the same apartment building, and died the same way. Socioeconomic status, age, personalities, education, and history were completely different. The first girl, Rin, even had a suicide note with her death. No foul play was ever suspected. Digging deeper I saw that strange similarities were associated with both. Mr. Hyong reported that his wife would disappear after he got home from work, but he was sure she had not left the apartment. Mrs. Hyong would later return with no memory of where she had been. Rin's employment and school said that she had a stream of absents that she could not explain occurring right before her suicide."

Naru had finally opened the files on the computer and was scanning the reports. Rin Godia's death happened seven years ago. Noriko Hyong died one year ago. He searched for suicides between the two dates.

Naru said, "There was another suicide in the building two years after the Godia girl. It says that a man in his forties, Kimihiro Mashi, was found drowned in his shower after taking an overdose of prescription medications."

"Any connection to the others?"

"He had been fired from his job for unexcused absences. You also missed a connection between the first two victims."

"I did?"

"The two women were moderately new to the building. They had lived there for less than a month before their suicides. Kimihiro Mashi also lived in the building for less than a month. Under normal circumstance, this would be irrelevant, but it is too soon to make assumptions."

Naru tapped his fingers on his desk. "One more thing," he added, "it says here that evidence not claimed by the victim's relatives was placed in the storage. What evidence is it talking about?"

"Oh I actually brought you the item. We still had it stored. It was a necklace. The husband said it was not his wife's." Hirota pulled out a gold heart-shaped locket.

"May I see it?" Naru asserted, holding out his hand.

Once his fingers had clasp the object, the room vanished…..

Suddenly Naru was transported to a different time and place.

He heard a voice call, "Shiho come on! We are going to be late!"

Darkness hung heavily around him, thick with icicles freezing him.

_What the hell?_

Using his psychometry, Naru could see the last moments of the person who died or disappeared. At the very least he would get a general picture concerning the person's location, but now there was nothing. No scenes were revealed.

He stood there in the freezing dark, listening to for the voice to speak again.

The locket weighed on his neck.

"You are late."

Naru jerked around as a voice came from behind him.

A girl about his age grabbed his right hand. She had long flowing black hair that skimmed the palest skin he had ever seen. It was whiter than his own. Her eyes also seemed to be hollow.

"Where are we?"

Another girl that looked similar to the first girl took his left hand. "Follow us," she instructed.

There was suddenly a jerk.

He heard a crash.

Naru felt an impact to his side and something hit his head.

Cries of terror echoed in his brain. The girls beside him shrieked in pain.

_What just happened?_ Naru wondered, disbelieving at what he saw and shocked at the abhorrent sight.

In a span of seconds he had been standing beside two girls in pitch blackness and now he sat in an overturned vehicle with only the seat belt holding him in his place. He saw the bodies of four people around him. The two girls who had been holding his hands earlier lay on either side of him in the back seat. One had been crushed most likely from the impact of another car from her door side. Her eyes were opened but vacant. The other girl seemed to be sleeping against him. A man's head lay against a window tinted red with his blood. He could not see the driver clearly, but it seemed to be a woman.

"Shiho, Yuu." The girl beside Naru whispered. She moved for a second, raising herself up.

Smoke was beginning to pull around them.

The girl started to say something but the vision was disappeared, and Detective Hirota's snapping fingers came back into his focus.

He was back in the present.

"You ok? You blanked out. I was starting to get spooked." Hirota declared.

Naru grimaced at the pain in his side. A side effect of his powers was that he shared the pain of the object's owner. Unlike other psychics, his power was so great that the projected feelings took some time to wear off.

At Hirota, he said, "Do you have any records of a family in the apartment house that died in a car wreck? One of the children named Shiho?"

"I don't remember that but I will check on it. What did you just do? You looked spaced out for a few moments."

"I was using my psychometry to view the owner's last memories."

"Yea right."

When Naru did not reply, Hirota questioned suspiciously, "You are serious?"

"I never joke about these matters. Whoever owned that necklace last was named Shiho and her family died in a car accident."

Hirota shook his head and stood up, "And on that note, it is time to leave. I am not sure about all that psychic crap you are trying to pull, but I will check out about a girl name Shiho and a family that died in a car wreck."

Naru nodded his appreciation as Hirota left.

Crossing his arms, Naru leaned back. He blocked out the office as he took a moment for himself. As he stared at the ceiling, Naru could not help questioning what misfortune his assistant had brought on herself, and if he could have been the one to blame.

_Gene, keep Mai safe until I can find her. _


	6. Chapter 5

**_Chapter Five: The Empty Office_**

Mai jerked back to see Koharu rushing toward her.

"You didn't have to follow me."

Koharu panted, "You know there is a fine line between love and hate. And right now I hate you for making me run up those steps." She leaned against the brick wall.

Mai glared. "Then you shouldn't have come."

"You know you probably shouldn't be up here."

"Why? These are public businesses. Don't I make a cute customer?"

Koharu frowned in her direction. "You know that is not what I meant. There is nobody up here but us. Maybe people aren't supposed to be here."

Standing next to the SPR office, Mai laughed, "You worry too much. I saw the boy come up here. Plus if they didn't want us here, there would be warnings. It is not like anyone is going to throw us out. Stop being paranoid."

Koharu's attitude was making Mai nervous. They were the only two people in the hall, which was a bit odd. The floor below had been crowded. Even if visitors did not journey to the second floor, this was a public office building. There should have been some noise from the workers at least.

Mai reached for the doorknob again, but her sister grabbed her arm, stopping the movement. Koharu's face had an almost fearful edge to it.

"What is your damage, Koharu?"

The girl cringed at her question.

Mai let go of the knob and folded her arms, "You are changing the subject. You really don't want me to go in here. Why?"

"I just don't want you to get disappointed."

"You keep saying that. Why would I get disappointed?"

"Because you keep seeing stuff only you can see. I think you're trying to prove you are special or something. And I am just afraid of when this illusion is gone. You are going to get hurt. "

"So I am making this up?"

"No! I think you think it is real."

Mai turned away.

A noise came from the office.

_Maybe the boy was in there…._

A sickening feeling of frigid dread flooded through her again. Summoning her strength, she pushed opened the door.

"No!"

Dark. Cold. Fear.

All Mai could see was blackness as if someone had blindfolded her eyes. She lay on a cold surface with lips parched as if she had not drunk anything in days. She was freezing. Reaching out to push herself up, Mai noticed she could barely move from fatigue. The feeling of ants work its way up her arms and legs as blood rushed to her body. _It is like I have been in the same position for a really long time. _Her head was dizzy. She coughed. It hurt to breathe.

She struggled to lift herself.

_I can't…_

Around her voices whispered, "Help us."

_What?_

Her arms gave out. She tasted blood as her face hit the ground.

Fear consumed Mai's soul.

A hand touched her shoulder.

Her eyes flew open.

"Are you ok? Your freckles are pale Mai." Koharu asked as she pulled her hand back.

Mai was not sure. She managed to stop shaking, but her wildly beating heart could not be calmed.

"I just... I must have been dreaming."

"You and your overactive imagination."

The door opened to show a vacant office. Inside the room, the windows were shut, and the light from the doorway caused a creepy shadow across the walls.

"Nothing is here?" Mai questioned. She darted glances around. "But I could have sworn I saw something else just now."

Koharu peered over her shoulder. "Looks vacant."

"Weird."

"Weird," repeated Koharu.

It might have been a mildly scary place, but Mai felt right at home. The feelings from her vision earlier were already leaving her.

They moved forward.

A fine layer of dust covered the floor. The walls were bare. It did not seem as if anyone had stepped foot inside for a long time.

_But I heard a noise…_

"We should go. There is nothing here. " Koharu's steps echoed across the floor.

Frozen in place, Mai stayed silent. She tried to figure out why she had been drawn to this place. Her attention was caught by a small hall to the side of the room. Three doors could barely be made out among the darkness. She went to investigate them. Koharu hesitantly followed. None of these new rooms had anything remotely of interest in them.

Koharu suggested, "Maybe we should search the other rooms on this floor."

Mai was not sure how she knew, but she felt the answer to her questions lay here. She also was pretty sure they would not be able to find the boy she had been chasing.

"Coming?"

"Yea," agreed Mai, falling behind.

Mai might have been mistaken but Koharu's face held an almost gleeful edge to it when she saw Mai following her.

All the offices on the second floor were empty. The boy in black had also vanished.

_Why do I feel like something is wrong?_

As Mai was walking down the stairs she thought she heard someone yell, "Wait!"

Mai glanced behind her.

Nobody was there.

_Get a grip girl. _

She took another step.

"Don't go!"

A voice was definitely yelling at Mai. Strangely it seemed familiar to have it yell at her. Like something from a dream. It wasn't even scary to her. She actually wanted it to shout at her.

The scene changed again. Mai was back in the empty room.

Except this time it was not empty.

Quick flashes of memories flew through her mind. She sat at a desk writing and laughing with a guy that had glasses. Another memory came. In it, she was sadly watching out a window as a beautiful couple walked outside. Two men and a woman sat on a couch. The man asked to take her out for a movie. The woman grabbed the other man who was much younger than her.

She heard typing and saw a face that was half covered with black bangs.

A creepy doll smiled at her.

Something covered in blood walked toward her.

The next memory was of her taking tea to someone who glared at her. For some reason, she found him funny.

A strange woman leaned close to her and said, "Naru and Lin are getting married."

An overwhelming sense of family swept over her.

Then the memories left.

_Why am I standing in here?_

Suddenly terrified, Mai ran out of the room toward Koharu on the stairs.

"I'm back!"

Koharu spun around. "Back? I didn't know you went anywhere."

"Didn't you notice I disappeared as you were walking down the stairs?"

"No! I thought you were right behind me the whole time."

Rin was anxiously waiting for them in the courtyard by the water fountain.

"Thanks for sticking me with the bill!" Rin made a depressed face. She also pointed to the shopping bags at her feet. "I hope you guys don't expect me to carry all of this."

"Hey I was just checking on her." Koharu gestured to Mai.

"Maybe it is time to go home."

The two girls held their hands out to their little sister.

_Stay or go?_

Exhaustion hit Mai as she stared at the plaza before making her decision. Mai agreed, "Ok. Let's head home."

She failed to notice the boy in black sitting by the fountain when she took her sisters' hands. His sad expression watched her leave.

"Mai, if you don't wake up soon. You'll die."


	7. Chapter 6

**Author's Note**: OK I am back! This chapter is short but I get to introduce a new OC person. I apologize for being MIA for two months. My enthusiasm for writing waned around chapter 4. Now I am ready to pick up the story. Maybe somebody can give me a tip on how to consistently produce a story through writers' block and general lack of excitement. Soon I will start back school, and I have realized GH inspires me when I am in school to write horror. The process channels my anxiety and stress. Of course, that could just be bs trying to excuse my laziness. And lastly I want to say I am still learning how to write a story so any advice on this story is always appreciated. I actually love negative critiques so I can work on things that I don't see. Any and all help is appreciated because your ideas any help me think of something new.

**_(The Unlucky Tenants) Part II_**

**_Chapter Six: Alone in the Dark_**

_(POV apartment house children)_

Three children play on the roof.

The oldest, Aki, said, "I heard there are ghost killing people." He had brown hair with kind eyes.

His younger friend, Chiho, said, "Liar." She was a wild girl with frizzy black hair that sometimes looked as if a wild animal had died on her head.

"Hey I can prove it! We can go find one."

"Ghosts are bad." said a small girl with pigtails. She was Chiho's annoying baby sister. Aki and Chiho were stuck watching her for the day because she had cried a fit when they left to go play. Their mother had commanded them to take her.

Chiho instantly thought this might be a way to get Izayou. "Yes let's go find a ghost."

"How do we start?"

"Ghosts probably live somewhere scary where there aren't too many people."

Chiho and Aki looked at each other at the same time, "The basement."

Izayou wimpered, "Basement?"

The three children began to search through the building for the door to the basement. They found a door on the first floor with a sign that read "Do Not Enter." Chiho opened it, "This looks like a good place to start."

Aki took out a penlight and tried to find a light switch. He couldn't ever get the light to turn on.

"Looks like the electricity is shut off. Probably because of the ghost."

There seemed to be stairs that led below the building.

Izayou refused to go inside. Her blue eyes started to tear.

"Come on!" huffed Chiho. "Girls are chicken! We could always take you home." (Even though you are a girl Chiho.)

The older boy turned to the little girl. "Suit yourself. Why don't you stay out here and if anything happens to us you go get help." He placed a hand to the girls head and smiled.

Tearfully, she nodded.

The other sighed, "Are you coming?" She was secretly jealous that Aki was being so sweet to Izayou.

The two older children descended into the dark stairwell.

After a few moments, one called back up, "Doesn't seem to be anything here."

The little girl waited and waited.

Finally she heard, "We are coming back up."

She crept to the door after what seemed like ages. "Chiho? Aki?"

No answer.

She walked inside, pausing close to the steps.

Something crashed close to her making her scream.

Spinning around she hit the door frame before running out of the room. Tears clouded her eyes as she wailed, knowing something awful had happened.

"What a baby!" yelled a voice.

Izayou sniffled while looking behind her. Her sister Chiho stood in the doorway with an impatient face.

"Chi-chan?"

"Yea! I was just trying to scare you. Stop crying!"

Izayou didn't stop crying but she walked back to the door. She tried to speak.

"What happen?"

"I waited for you to come closer to the stairs and kicked the railing when I saw the top of your head. It was pretty funny to see you hit yourself trying to run away."

"Meanie."

"I guess what is the point of a little sister unless you get to scare her. Right Aki?"

Silence.

"Aki?"

The lights on the floor went out.


	8. Chapter 7

**_Chapter Seven: The Ghost's Ultimatum – Move Out!_**

_(Naru's POV)_

"Don't you think you are over doing it a bit?" said Takigawa, the Buddhist monk with bleached hair and shabby clothes, less than thirty minutes after the various members of Naru's group had arrived.

Naru replied, "In what way?"

Takigawa stared pointedly at the crowded apartment. It contained Naru the boss, the investigator Lin, the part-time assistant Yasuhara, the ghost hunter Madoka, Kasai the psychometry user, the priestess Ayako, the medium Masako, and the Catholic priest John. The group had only known that Mai was in trouble so had immediately dropped what they were doing to rush over. After arriving, Naru had relayed the facts as given to him by Mai's friends and Hirota. Then they had proceeded to start business as usual but in a more unorthodox way than normal procedure dictated. Because of the circumstances, Naru could not fault anyone for not thinking straight.

"I mean I get why everyone is here…" Monk whispered, "But why Madoka and Kasai?"

Madoka was Naru's teacher who had come to Japan to watch Naru for his mother. She also was the itenerate boss of SPR when Naru left the country. Her expertise was nothing to scoff at, but Naru typically did not turn to her for assistance on cases in general.

Naru sighed. "Do I really have to explain now? Mai disappeared instantly, which means we are dealing with a power her that rivals Urado or the deity at the Yoshimi House. Time is of the essence. Police have a saying that when a child goes missing, if they don't find the child within a few hours than there is an 80% chance they will never find them. This is a ghost kidnapping. Mai has already been gone for almost 24 hours. If we don't find her by tonight than there is a good chance that we will not find her alive. Madoka is here since the police are involved, and I need someone who can handle public relations. Kasai is here because she asked to come. Mai is her friend. Today was one of her training days and she use to work part-time at the office anyway, she is familiar with the operations." (Lin was teaching Kasai how to use her PK abilities similarity to how he had trained Naru even though her ability was nowhere as strong as Naru's.)

"Wouldn't Kasai be a liability?"

"Perhaps. Although that might be useful."

Monk glanced questioning at Naru then it dawned on him.

"Bait?!"

Everyone turned toward Takigawa and Naru's conversation. Naru turned away from Monk.

Takigawa hung is head gloomly. Mai was family to the all the SPR members, but Naru was taking a dangerous chance risking another girl.

The manager had allowed them to use an empty apartment as the base on the same floor as Tamiko's family. Naru had not wanted intrude upon the family since it was already a crowded place. Lin, an onmyou-ji, had just finished warding off the base. Naru wanted to make sure that the spirits had no chance of abducting anyone else. Ayako was writing protections on paper for the group to take around individually. She was also making extras for any tenants they saw that wanted some. Masako, who had been sick since entering the building, was sitting with her. Masako could see spirits as if they were real people but also she channeled psychometry to see the emotions and thoughts of the ghost as oppose to being a true clairvoyance medium (like Gene) or having general ESP (like Mai).

The manager now sat posed for an interview.

"If you're interested, I wish for you to briefly explain the circumstances behind the current problems?" Naru said as he sat across from the manager.

"The owner had heard of the lack of tenants interested even though this building is in a nice location and our rates are good. He and I tried to find out if there was something wrong with the building itself, but there was nothing. People would not give us specific complaints. He suspected something fishy so a couple of years ago he asked me to come investigate what people were saying. Then I started to hear rumors."

"Ah, and he wanted an investigation so they asked you?"

"That's how it is."

"I see, was there anyone else involved?"

"I asked the maintenance staff – the janitors, night watchman, and my secretary to keep an eye out."

Naru made a note. "When did you specifically hear of the ghost stories circulating?"

"I was collecting the rumors between the tenants."

"What rumors? Can you remember it?"

Naru inserted a hand into the inside pocket of his black jacket. He pulled out a small tape recorder.

"Begin," He said as he pushed the record button.

The manager said sharply. "Stories began to circulate about people materializing in the dead of night in apartments and in hall ways. People would also vanish. The electricity would go out on one floor but not others. Usually these incidence involved children or teenagers so at first I suspected they were pranks. The sheer number of occurrences and people involved began to grow. Then I thought there might be something else going on."

The man paused. "Noises were also heard from the walls, floors, and ceilings. The most common was a tapping sound, but there have also been reports of screams and shouts. They said that when the tapping started if you leaned in close…. that… you could hear breathing from the wall. Or a faint heartbeat. People say this building is alive and if you anger its spirit than it will take you away. Some people even started leaving sake out in their homes for the spirits so they would not attack their families."

Smiling faintly, the manager shook his head, "But that is preposterous. Around that time we had some suicides. I guess the disturbances were too much for their minds to handle."

"At the same time the strangeness started?"

"No. After the incidences started. I would say probably a good couple of years after the incidence had started that the suicides happen. Plus these people died at different times. This has been happening for a long time."

"Then what?"

"Well there hasn't been any death in a long time. This most recent event occurred a few years ago."

"And this would be?"

"The corpse of a mother was found on the ground. She left a suicide note. Apparently she suffered from neurosis and jumped from the roof. A very tragic incidence that started a wave of…" His statement was left unfinished as Masako began to shriek in terror.

"Masako!"

"Hey!"

"Masako. Are you ok? What's wrong? Masako talk to me?" Ayako shook the girl.

Masako's gaze became vacant as she started clawing and wrestling Ayako. Takigawa grabbed her.

The lights flickered before going out.

"Ah! THAT HURT!" Takigawa yelled.

The lights came back on. He looked at his arm. Blood poured from a small circular wound close to his elbow. Masako had bit him in the dark.

In the glimmer from the lights that would not stay on, shadows began to play tricks on everyone's eyes. It seemed as if something was growing, reaching out to touch one of them.

Everyone saw Masako standing there in the middle of the room. Traces of blood now ran down her lips. As she snarled with teeth stained red, a piece of skin fell from her mouth.

Her eyes were black and skin pale. She seemed to be a vengeful spirit from the Edo Period. (Mainly because of the kimono and long hair Masako wore)

Ayako said, "Bou-san let me see that wound."

"Don't worry, I'm ok right now!"

Yasuhara, Lin, and Takigawa had join forces to take her down even though her body was small.

John began to say a prayer over her.

Masako murmured something, but her words made no sense.

She kept repeating, "Fade away. Fade away. Fading. Fading away. Fade away."

**Chilling words – What is happening with Masako? Find out next chapter! See you soon!**

**_Bonus _**_S**hort Story**_**: Detour to the Office**

_(Mai's POV – First person)_

I took the phone my school secretary held out to me.

"Mai"

"Yes. Naru. Is it you?"

"Unless someone else has stolen my voice and wants to waste their time calling you."

_So it is like that then…. Jerk…_

"Why are you late? You were supposed to start work seven minutes ago."

"Well I am sorry. I got back tracked at school and then one of my teacher's volunteered to take me to Shibuya. I am waiting for her to get off."

"Lin will pick you up."

"But Naru, I will have to wait for him and Mrs. Yamanachi is almost ready to go. I have already accepted her proposal. It will be rude to cancel"

"I am already sending Lin to come get you. Do not inconvenience him. He is a very busy person."

_Why you inconsiderate, narcistic, pompous… What do you think you are doing by sending him?_

"And oh Mai."

"Yes."

"Next time when you are going to be late. Be sure to be considerate and call first."

"Goodbye. Naru!" I said and slammed the school's phone down. I swear people like him that make nice people like me go on a murderous rampage. He was just making a big deal to teach me a lesson. Does he have to work so hard to push my buttons?

I was still mad when Lin came to pick me up. Sadly he became the target of my anger; therefore, we stopped to get ice cream on the way to the office.

He was very attentive and listened to my complaints leveled at his charge. Or Student? Boss? Master? How can I put this? To define their relationship would be over my head.

As we walked down the side walk, someone yelled, "Thief!"

A man carrying a purse ran right past us.

Lin spun around and kicked the man's feet out from under him.

The man flew into some nearby high school students crashing on top of a girl. One guy grabbed the purse snatcher and yelled, "What are you trying to do to my girlfriend?"

"Wait! It wasn't me that guy over there hit me!"

Lin very calmly walked over to diffuse the situation between the rowdy bunch, but the whole scene was quickly getting out of control as people began to stop and gawk.

Women stopped and said, "Wow he is such a handsome man! And so calm and cool to apprehend that criminal."

They came to me.

"Young lady, your boyfriend is so kind."

"Oh he is not my boyfriend."

Lin blushed even thought he was standing far enough away that he shouldn't have heard.

Another said, "Your father is such a gentleman."

Lin sweatdropped.

"Uh! Thanks! But he is not my dad."

"Little girl, your brother should compete in some martial arts tournament on TV."

"Still wrong! But thank you for playing Guess Who He Is!"

Lin and I shared a look. We broke out laughing, easing my mood.

So we were late getting back to the office.

Naru was not pleased, but by that point I didn't care.

**Hope you enjoyed the bonus story!**


	9. Chapter 8

**_Chapter Eight: Then There Were Two - Mediums_**

**_Author's Note: _**OMG! Thanks for the support and the reviews. Your words make me smile. Many people liked the bonus story last chapter (Detour to the office) therefore I will add a bonus story soon. If you missed it, go back and read it. Your feedback helps me figure out what you really enjoy and hate. Actually last chapter (ghost's ultimatum) was supposed to include this chapter and the next chapter but I felt that I needed to separate them otherwise it would be tmr (too much reading).

_(Masako's POV)_

Masako fought a losing battle of fatigue. She had been exhausted ever since she had entered the apartment building. By the time Naru was midway through his barrage of questions and changed the cassette in the recorder, Masako decided to close her eyes just for a second.

"Momma?"

Masako saw a small girl with golden curls now standing in front of her, holding a teddy bear. She had the bluest eyes and pink pajamas. It was very strange because the whole room was completely silent. Normally when a spirit appeared to her, she would be able to hear the physical world around her. Then Masako realized how empty the room had become.

"Everyone went away." The girl sniffled.

"Did they? I guess I would be forced to agree." Masako said rising from the couch. "But we are here together."

The girl shyly buried her face in her toy. Her voice was muffled.

"I didn't understand what you said."

A blue eye peeked over the teddy bear in an adorable way. "You are here, but not really here."

"Oh? What do you mean by that?"

"You are of the living."

"I am. But you aren't?"

"I'm dead, silly. You are like the others she brings, but you will leave, and then I will be alone."

Masako shook her head, "I am very confused at what you are saying. What is your name? Mine is Masako Hara, a medium."

"I am Miomari. You're a medium? I don't think you are medium."

"…"

"You are bigger than me. Not by much. I'm almost grown. Well I was when I was alive."

"Well. You certainly are." Masako smiled. "Actually I am a medium, as in someone who talks to spirits."

"Why would someone talk to spirits? Is that like a psychic? Can you see the future? And why are you called a 'medium'? Why didn't you know I was a spirit? Wouldn't a medium know? Most of the living ones don't know who I am, but you should."

"I am not sure about the origins of the word medium but it has to do with being a channel between the humans and the spirits. I thought you were a ghost. I just wanted to make sure you knew you were a ghost. Where are we Miomari?"

"I dunno. Why wouldn't I know that I was a ghost?"

"Some ghosts don't know."

"Well I do. That's sad. To be dead, and not know you are dead."

"Listen Miomari, you said "Everyone went away." Are there other spirits around?"

"Maybe. I dunno. I don't see any now."

"Now? Are there normally other spirits here?"

"Usually lots. Both the living and dead. They call them here." (Shout out to Nowhere Gray's story Living and The Dead; if you haven't read it go read it.)

"Who calls them?"

The girl viewed her surroundings and then whispered nervously, "The Family."

"The family?" A shiver went down Masako's spine, not from fear, but almost from a change in temperature in the room.

She nodded. "Especially the girl. She bullies spirits into doing what she wants. If they don't do it, she eats them."

"That's horrifying."

"The Family mostly helps her because they are a family."

The girl's eyes started to become moist, "Families help one another even if they don't deserve it. The Family wants me but I'm scared of them. I don't have a family any more. I'd prefer to be alone than with them."

"Don't be sad small one. I will be your family. Is that ok?"

"You seem nice, but a family protects. Can you protect me?"

"I will try." Masako's heartstrings were being tugged at by the vision of the little cherub and her toy bear.

"She will be mad. They are very strong. You don't look like you could fight them."

"Sometimes bullies look stronger than they actually are because they pick on the weak, but I also have some very powerful friends… Miomari have you seen a girl recently with short brown hair and a loud personality among the spirits you have seen? She would have been about my age and size."

"I don't think so, but there are a lots of spirits here. I try to avo..d.. uh.. keep away from most of them. There was a new boy here right before you."

"A boy?"

"Yea he was crying because he was lost; he wanted to go home. He didn't seem scary."

"You don't know who he was?"

"He was alive. I hid from him. His sounds would lure the bad ghosts here or a ghoul."

"So you are familiar with how things work?"

"I have been here a really long time."

"Well then why are you here? Why don't you ascend to heaven? Do you have something keeping you here?"

"Because I want to watch over my momma."

"Watch over your 'momma?' You are a very grown up girl to say that. Is your momma here?"

"Yes." The girl had an angry expression. "The Family killed her. She is one of them now."

"I'm sure it makes her sad to see you."

"It would if she remembered me, but she doesn't know me. I actually never really knew my mother when I was alive. She died when I was real young."

"How?" Masako's own eyes started to tear up. "That is very sad. How do you know if is your mother?"

"I remember how it feels to be close to her. And they told me."

"The Family?"

"Yes"

"Why don't you move forward? Your mother can't be the only thing keeping you here. I'm sure that your mother will join you in the next life. You really don't need to stay in such a place as this. It is dangerous."

"I don't know how to leave."

Miomari began to cry.

"I don't want to stay here. I want to leave."

Masako started to close the distance so she could comfort the child but the little girl backed away.

"Don't cry, sweetheart."

"It is hard to be brave. I'm scared all the time. Only Teddy helps me. If I didn't have Teddy, I would be soooo lonely."

"It is dark and lonely here. You just have to reach a peace within your soul. These emotions are keeping you in this world. Trust me, and I will guide you to the light. Here take my hand."

Masako reached out but the girl back stepped clutching 'Teddy.' Masako remained still with a gentle smile on her face.

Hesitantly, the child nodded in acceptance. She held her hand out.

As she was about to grab her palm, the child turned.

Terror enveloped Masako's body at a sound like an unearthly shriek in the distance.

Miomari frantically ran to Masako and began to pound her body with her hands.

"What?"

"You have to leave! Go! A ghoul is coming!"

Masako let her senses reach out, but stopped when she touched something twisted and evil. She felt her chest constrict. Was fear making her have a panic attack? Or had the air really become this hard to breathe? Her lungs were about to explode.

She could do nothing but shake.

_I am in spirit form. I can control this. S_he repeated to herself.

That is when the girl started screaming a sound that made Masako's hair stand on ends.

A familiar presence touched her back. Then a slight pressure built up around her, as if arms were holding her.

Everything changed.

Masako froze as she found herself in the strangest place she'd ever seen. It was as if she was standing in the same room, but the room had grown dark. It actually was pure black, but she could still see details outlined in white. The color was almost an inversion of what the room had been before. There was a grayish film where the walls, ceilings and floors should be, but it was transparent. Various small lights shined in different rooms, but in the room she was standing in there were numerous glowing orbs of light. Some had tails of fire and flew around the room at very fast paces.

"Will-o-wisps? And _Hitodama_. Together?" Normally Masako saw spirits in a human form. Mai was actually the one who sees spirits as balls in her dreams. _Hitodama_ were the souls of people separated from their human bodies in the form of a sphere of light while _onibi_, or will-o-wisps, were resentful spirits born from corpses in the form of a circular flame. Usually they are not seen together, but here they were existing beside each other.

A chill wind howled around her, stirring her long hair and raising goose bumps on her skin. Wrapping her arms around her body, she stumbled forward through the room that she had been.

In slow motion, she fell through what seemed to be a wall and she didn't stop at the floor.

Down.

Masako went through another floor.

Down.

Her body kept dropping.

Down.

Her speed never picked up. She just floated through a sea of floors and halls.

She noticed a room was stranger than the rest. Her body seemed to be drawn toward to that particular place. Landing on the balls of her feet on that floor, something black began to stride swifty toward her.

A pale familiar face appeared in the darkness.

"I'm sorry I had to bring you here."

The figure had Naru's face.

"Eugene?"

The person stopped right before Masako. He wore the same dark clothes as Naru had on earlier. The features were the same except this one had eyes that carried emotion: warmth with a touch of sadness. Actually he seemed tired. He was not smiling for he had a serious expression on his face and there were faint rings around his eyes.

He greeted Masako with an outstretched arm, "Take my hand, Hara-san."

"W-why?"

"Normally I would lead Mai through her powers to demonstrate the spiritual nature of a vision, but this was an emergency. Your power is different; therefore, I resorted in calling you here with mine. Hurry! You need to see something important."

Masako agreed. Taking his hand enveloped her in warmth where she no longer felt the wind in the building. Gene gently pulled her through a maze of blackness. They walked in silence. It was a unique experience for Masako - her first time letting her spirit leave her body.

"Excuse me Eugene-dono? I'm sorry for mistaken you for Naru during that time before." (Referring to when he comforted her after Urado's spirit had kidnapped her.)

His eyes crinkled at the corners showing the inner warmth as his smile got wider. Masako was blown away by his loveliness. If only the real Naru had a kind spirit like Eugene.

"You are really special."

Masako looked over at Gene while blushing furiously. "WHA-?"

He became somewhat bashful as if he said something not quite right.

"I mean I understand. You didn't know at the time. Plus you were quite scared, but you really are special. You have unique powers. I thought you were just a normal medium that relied on psychometry but I can see that you have clairvoyancy like I do. You were able to call that spirit to you – the one of the child – as I was calling you to me."

"Oh!" Masako timidly asked, "is that a good thing?" She was wondering if Eugene was paying her a compliment or just highlighting on something he thought of which would be more of what Naru would have done.

He glanced at her sideways like, "Uh? Honestly I'm not sure." He laughed, "But let's say it is good for now. I'm definitely impressed by it."

Gene leaned closer and whispered, "Don't let Noll know. He might want to study you."

Masako could honestly not describe how she felt on that statement, but she did not have long to concentrate it. She had to cover her ears at the loud noise. Sounds of people and cars echoed around her. Her eyes became strained at the sudden brightness of an afternoon sun. It was daylight and she was standing outside in the middle of a busy intersection. People rushed this way and that. Some even managed to physically push against her as they passed even though she could feel that they were not actually there.

Taking a deep breath, she extended her senses. She felt as if they were weak spirits... Almost projections that were given a solid form.

"Are these… like you?"

"No they are illusions produced from one ghost."

"Where are we?"

"I believe someplace where there are a lot of shops? I am unfamiliar with this section of Tokyo. Do you shop a lot Masako?"

Masako glanced at the smiling Eugene trying to figure out if he was insulting her or just asking a question. She then looked down at her kimono which might look like she was not up on the latest fashion.

She sputtered. "Uh… Well… I do shop, and I wear normal clothes." The added in a low voice, "Sometimes…"

"Is that so?" He said with his smile never letting up.

Masako was suddenly annoyed. The twin version might be a nicer version but he covered up his feelings just as much as the real one. Mai was in danger and he was... flirting? poking fun at Masako?

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you really like this?"

He stopped smiling. "What?"

An image struck her of Mai talking to her about Gene. Masako looked closer at his face and realized that Gene's previous smile, even though real, was a just as big of a shield just as much as Naru's stoic face.

As she was thinking, unaware of the people beside her, some girls pushed past her. One girl specifically made her fall.

Gene tried to catch her but she still fell.

"Why don't you watch where you are going?" muttered the Amazon one that pushed her. Masako looked up red face to say something back but froze at the sight of the small girl standing in the middle of the other two.

"Mai?!"

"Do I know you?" The brunette asked, puzzled.


	10. Chapter 9

**_Chapter Nine: Koharu's True Form_**

A breeze mildly blew, ruffling people's hair and clothes as tension mounted between the five people standing in the middle of a busy section of Tokyo.

Masako started to cry. "I am so glad to see you, but are you dead?" She felt for their energies, trying to figure out if their spirits were living.

"Huh? Dead what are you talking about? Pretty sure I don't know you," Mai made a gesture with her hands, "but I am bad with faces. The facial recognition software sometimes has a glitch in the wiring."

"No! I don't know her."

The less aggressive girl with Mai murmured, "More like a brain fart moment."

"Oh cut it out already with that!"

The one who had walked into Masako said, "Do you normally associate with psychos, Mai? Look at her clothes?" Masako felt a pang at the words. She decided this mean person would be the "Amazon."

Gene helped Masako up as she pondered on Mai's funny behavior.

Mai stared at him. "You on the other hand seem vaguely familiar. I'm sure I have met you before."

"We have met many times. Just concentrate. I'm sure you will remember."

Masako asked, "How do you not know us?" She had encounter spirits that had forgotten their deaths, but never one that forgotten its life.

Gene looked down seriously at Masako as he moved closer to Mai. "She doesn't remember us. Maybe you can help. You two were close."

_Us… Close? _

"We work together. Although there are times we don't act nice to each other. Our relationship has improved."

Everyone stared at her blankly.

Masako was quiet before adding, " I have never told you this, but you're the only girl my age that I am friends with."

As if in a daze, Mai said, "No the voice is wrong. You should be colder and more brisk in your words. Hmmm. Unless you are yelling at me... wait what? I have no clue what I'm saying." Mai shook her head. Laughing she said, "Wow my mouth is no longer attached to my brain it would seem. I am sorry if what I said was rude. It just came out."

Masako felt a change, sensing danger lurked close.

"Ugh! Not this again." Mai held her head as if suddenly it hurt.

The other two girls grabbed Mai, asking her if she was ok.

Mai mumbled, "I feel a bit lightheaded."

The Amazon pushed Mai into the arms of the other girl. "Why don't you take her home? I will follow shortly." The girl now holding Mai agreed. She frowned at Gene and Masako before pulling Mai away.

"Wait Mai!" Masako yelled as she started to follow.

"SHUT UP!"

The Amazon would have shoved Masako back down on the ground but Gene retreated behind Masako when Mai had almost fainted. The girl ended up pushing Masako into him. Involuntary, his arms circled her at the impact before letting go.

"You need to back off!" screamed the girl to Gene.

The wind began to pick up.

"We can no longer ignore your interference."

Huddling closer to Gene as the scene began to become blurry, Masako managed to glance up as the sky turned dark red with purple swirling clouds. The sounds of life around her gradually decrease leaving an eerie silence. The buildings around her began to change, assuming into a tarnished and worn form. In the distance she heard rustling as something was running through dried leaves in a forest toward where they stood.

Gene whispered, "This place is as dead as she is."

Masako saw the people disappear.

Gene glared at the girl. "Why are you doing this? You need to give us our friend back!"

"Hardly!" She laughed, "Nobody will take her away!"

"You underestimate the bonds between friends. We will find her and protect her! There are powers on our side that you have no understanding of. It is a choice that is up to you. Do not choose to go down the wrong path?"

"Are you threatening me?"

"I am just describing the situation."

"Meaningless words. What do I have to fear from a mere human? Do gods tremble at the actions of man? Here I am a GODESSS. One who controls space and time. Even death. And about everything you could think of." The girl started to deform into something truly ugly as her skin began to tighten around her eyes and mouth. Rotting teeth began to protrude outwards that sharpened like knifes. Her eyeballs disappeared into hollow darkness. Strangely enough her height and body mass began to shrink until she was suddenly child size.

"Once, when I was living, I asked my grandfather about the bonds between my sisters and I. We were so close that we could almost sense what the other was thinking. My grandfather got really angry, and said I would awaken a family curse. Bad spirits would come after me. He became so insistent that it caused a huge fight with my parents. My mother told him not to fill my mind with superstitious nonsense. It is because of the conflict that we moved here to Tokyo. I will always blame him for their deaths. That is why I killed him as my first act after my death. Now my family has returned to me. Your bonds do not equal mine. I will do anything to protect them!"

She turned her attention to Masako, "You are alive. I saw you both of you enter this building as humans. I'm not sure what you two are, but you seem to be able to control your spirits unlike most humans. It is hard to feel your presences even though I see you before me. Leave this world. I am not above killing you to achieve my goals."

Far away, something shrieked.

_It was the sound from before!_ The one the Miomari wanted Masako to run away from.

The people on the street vanished.

The wind grew icy.

Solid, naked corpses with long talons and wings made from skin began pouring from the building. They appeared flying through the glass of windows. Blood from their bodies dripped onto the cement as they flew over. Skin hung from various parts of their bodies, showing bones underneath in a partial decomposed state. Their hair was long and black, hung in a greasy, matted fashion.

The creatures cries grew louder as they worked themselves into a frenzy.

Gene grabbed Masako making her duck as the spirits started to dive towards them.

The girl began to turn back into a human form.

"My ghouls are hungry."

She summoned one to her and rubbed its body adoringly. "Aren't they beautiful?" The ghoul made purring sounds at her. "These are wandering spirits full of vengeance. I find them and give them life here in my world. They guard my world against intruding spirits. I am not quite sure how you two entered without them finding you. If they can't scare spirits away, they eat them. This is the rule of my domain."

Masako's eyes widen in horror. "That is abominable!"

"Look at the service I am doing for the humans of your world. Think of all the horrors these spirits would have done if they were left on their own. I have been collecting these for a very long time. " She giggled, "Don't you think it is funny? Who wouldn't be terrified of them? They keep most trouble makers away. Aren't you just trembling at the sight? Delicious!" Her tongue licked the top of her lip.

A bell tolled although it sounded more like a gong.

"Oh well! I was getting hungry there for a second."

The girl started to walk away, humming. Her head swirled at the neck to look at them even though her body still moved in the forward direction, "I trust that if you survive. You will see yourself out. I have somewhere to be."

Gene said, "You might want to watch that. I hear wearing your head backwards is not good. Ghosts tend to become poltergeist that way – hitting random objects, knocking over chairs, humping, I mean, thumping the floors and ceilings..."

Masako stared at Gene, dumfounded.

He stared at her with the innocence of an angel. "What? I will admit that last description probably fitted a rabid dog more."

The ghoul beside her shrieked at Masako and Gene.

"Don't antagonize it!"

"I am not trying to antagonize that thing. We need to get her angry at us."

"Amusing. Do you really have time to banter? I know what you are trying to do, boy. It won't work. By the way, there is another reason for you to return to your bodies. One of my ghouls currently possesses a human body that currently does not have a spirit in it. Your friends might be in danger from it."

Gene's face grew cold. "You bi…"

"Ah! Let's not resort to name calling. I would kill you but since you are living spirits that would just cause more problems for me; therefore, I would prefer if you leave on your own accord. Your welcome has just ended. May we never see one another again. Goodbye." Her head spun back around and she resumed humming as her army of monsters prepared to rip Gene and Masako to shreds.


	11. Chapter 10

_"__My family is gone, but now I have found them. Why would you take that away from me?"_

**Chapter Ten: The Living Spirit**

Gene tackled Masako.

One second she was staring in the many faces of death and the next she was falling until... She was floating?

"Huh?"

Gene was holding her hand. "I thought it best to switch venues. I hope you don't mind?"

Masako smiled even though her heart was pounding from the terror of the situation. "Don't mind at all... Gene."

"Masako did you notice?"

"Notice?"

"The three girls were illusions like the others."

"Well I definetly noticed that one was not an illusion. Is she the spirit that is causing the misfortunes and Mai's disappearance?"

"Perhaps. She seems to be the angriest… but did you notice Mai and the other one?"

Masako thought.

"Well Mai's spirit had more energy. Her skin glowed more than the other two." Masako suddenly pulled up her sleeave. She stared at her arm before grabbing Gene's. Comparing the two she said, "Mai is still alive? That was her astral projection form."

Gene nodded.

She said threw tears and smiled at Gene with pure joy, "I'm so glad."

"Our Father in Heaven. Hallow be thy name."

And then Masako was being pulled away from Gene.

"Gene! What is happening?!" Masako yelled as the weirdest sensation shook her body. She felt as if she was free falling, tumbling through the air but she had not moved.

"Don't resist Masako. It will be alright, but Masako before you leave you need to know that the other girl with Mai was a separate ghost. There are many ghosts in this apartment building and they are all keeping Mai, not just the one name Koharu. I'm not sure what exactly is happening, but tell Noll he needs to find Mai soon. Her body is being physically kept somewhere close for her the ghost to be able to control her astral projection self. She has to be kept somewhere the ghost has complete power over."

Masako tried to grab Gene, but instead of catching her hands he waved them away.

He looked out in the distance. "It seems that when I brought your spirit with me another spirit took control of your body. I believe it was after the child you saw earlier. You need to go back now."

"How do I?"

"I will give you a push."

Wind shot out from Gene's body and Masako was truly soaring now, swiftly through the walls of dark apartment building until brilliant light shown and a warmth enveloped her body.

Her body crashed into some unknown surface.

"Her body is limp"

"Wait! Don't touch her yet until we are sure the spirit has left."

"Masako! Wake up!"

Someone picked her up and suddenly she felt something soft against her body. A gentle voice started speaking. It said, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done."

"Why was she saying 'Fade away?'" This voice sounded oddly like Takigawa.

A female voice asked, "Do you want me to slap her?"

Masako blinked, but the images were blurry.

"She opened her eyes."

"Are they sane?"

The faces of her friends appeared before her face. She was in the apartment.

"It is me. Or it is I, Masako." Masako was shaking. She could not get the feeling away from her of the nastiness she had encountered in her visions. It did not take long for her to notice that she was now lying on a couch.

Sitting up, she realized that Lin, Takigawa, John, and Yasuhara were all touching her. Instantly mortified, she tried to jump away but there was nowhere to go so she ended up sitting up really fast and hitting Yasuhara in the chin who was holding her shoulders down.

"Yow!" He was immediately floored.

Her head spun and she laid back down holding the top of her head. "Ahhh!"

"Masako?!" Said many people simultaneously.

Masako put her hands over her ears. "Don't shout! You are right next to me."

"Are you ok?"

"No sudden movement!" ordered Ayako.

Yasuhara still holding his chin said, "Is anyone going to ask how I feel?" he moved his jaw in silence as everyone turned to look at him. "I'm the one wounded over here."

Takigawa said, "Now you know how I feel. 'She might be little but she be fierce.'"

Ayako rolled her eyes and then turned with concern to Masako. "Everyone was panicking that something really bad was happening."

Madoka shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts, "Bou-san what happen to your arm?"

"Well I guess you liked the flavor of it."

Masako covered her mouth at his comment, but then realized that her mouth tasted salty and metallic. She immediately stopped breathing and began to gag.

"Don't tell her that!" Ayako said as she hit Bou-san.

If Masako could go back to the creepy world and be with Gene, she would have. Nothing would have been worse than this situation.

A cold voice stated, "Lin would you please get Miss Hara something to wash her mouth out."

Masako looked toward Naru who was frowning down at her from behind the couch. Her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Naru" she cried jumping up to hug him but he very smoothly moved out of reach of her outstretched arms.

Yasuhara said, "Well apparently you have lots of energy left in you."

"Are you finished? I am assuming the spirits told you something. Did you learn anything important?" Naru asked.

Masako really did feel like crying then.

Madoka angry at Naru's tone, yelled, "She has not recovered! What do you expect? We are not robots. Give the poor girl some time to gather her thoughts"

Masako disagreed, "I am ok." She smiled at Madoka, "Thank you but I would rather tell you what I have learned." Masako talked about Gene and the strange girl Koharu. She left out the details of her personal opinion about Gene.

"Did Gene try to pick a fight?" Naru asked skeptically, "That sounds very out of character for him. Are you sure you were talking to him?"

"Perhaps, I am not sure anymore. It's becoming hard to remember what transpired."

Naru murmured to himself, "Memory loss?"

**The spirits have noticed the presence of the uninvited ghost hunters.  
**

**Next Chapter: The Missing Boy**

**AN**: Well I'm back, but only for a little bit. My current break (for Christmas) is giving me time to edit a couple of chapters from this story that I wrote back in September. Plus I am working on some new chapters. I know it has been FOREVER since my last update. I can't promise these chapters will come regularly because of school now, but I'm going to try to post a whole bunch during Christmas break. I have so many stories in head that it is hard to keep track. Make Me Sick was special to me because I gave myself goals to finish it. Personally I feel I rushed the storyline at the end… BUT AT LEAST IT WAS FINISHED. My goal for this story is to make it authentic, allowing it to naturally unfold even though that may mean I have to take breaks when no ideas are coming to me.


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 The Missing Boy**

"What about our talk? Are you even listening to me?"

An old man sat in an empty apartment.

"I will always follow your orders father, no matter my personal feelings," said Koharu.

"He knows too much," a male's voice replied. "Deal with him or do you need help?"

The old man held his head as he listened to the two voices.

"We keep the boy for a little while but then give him back"

"Of course. And Mai?"

"Her disappearance has caused problems. Hunters are here. It was stupid to take the boy."

"The boy would have found her body though."

"He was a child. Nobody would have believed him."

"You cannot be sure."

"And now?"

"His memories will be erased."

"What about the human?"

"We need a scapegoat."

"Kill two birds with one stone"

"Are you sure the dark one will fall for it?"

Silence.

The elderly man started to think the voices were gone, but the temperature in the room grew cold as the spirits began to move. Hairs on his arm began to raise as he felt rather than see, a presence brush him. Something had moved passed him.

The grew dark, but a faint darkness gathered along his right wall - an impression of a body.

The man started to cry.

He heard it, the heartbeat. The sound always came before_ they _ did something to him.

"I won't tell, I swear." He promised to the shadow.

Koharu lay back against the wall. Her eyes glazed over, not overly concerned with the human's words. She rested her head, listening to a sound that she loved.

_Life._

"Oh to be living again."

Technically there were two sounds coming from the walls but only a spirit could hear both. A small gasp of breathe in addition to the heartbeat.

Koharu turned to press her cheek against the painted wood while drawing a heart with her hand.

"I. Love. You." She sung quietly.

Inside pressed between the plywood stands the body of Aki, unconscious but struggling to breath.

Koharu murmured, "Soon my family will be complete."

"I wish I could keep you too, sweet child, but you will serve another purpose. The hunter will have to chose between you and the girl he wishes to find."


	13. Chapter 12

_How can you fault me for trying to stay?" Soon we will all fade away.  
_

**Chapter Twelve: Mai's Disturbia  
**

_(Mai's POV from meeting Masako)_

Mai turned as she heard a child whisper.

She thought to herself _Great Now I am hearing multiple voices._

Mai went through the movements of shopping with her sisters, but she was not pay attention to them. Ever since the incident, all she could think about was the empty office. Something inside her, a feeling, had stayed with her. It called to her, pulling her They remarked on her spaciness.

"Maybe we should take you home."

About that time, Koharu walked straight into a girl in a kimono.

"Why don't you watch where you are going?" snarled Koharu under her breath.

The black haired girl fell backwards. She looked up at Mai in surprise, "Mai?"

Mai questioningly asked "Do I know you?" The girl on the ground was very beautiful in a porcelain doll way, not an easy type of person to forget.

A breeze teased Mai's hair. The girl started to cry, "I'm so glad to see you, but are you dead?"

"Dead? What are you talking about? Pretty sure I don't know you, but I am bad with names and faces. The facial recognition software sometimes has a glitch in the wiring."

Rin snorted, "More like frequent brain farts."

Mai glared at her, "Cut it out already."

Koharu said, "Do you normally associate with psychos Mai? Look at her clothes."

A boy pulled the kimono clad girl up. Mai stared at him.

""YOU on the other hand hand seem very familiar. I am sure I have met you before."

"We have met many times. If you concentrate, I am sure you will remember."

He smiled.

Mai blushed at the feeling in her stomach that came when she saw that smile.

The boy looked at his companion and said, "She doesn't remember us. Maybe you can help. You two were close."

Mai was very uncomfortable when the girl turned those sharp eyes toward her. After a moment, she said, "We work together. Although there are times we don't act nice to each other. Our relationship has

"No you should not be so friendly. Your voice should be colder and more brisk unless you are yelling at me." Mai shook herself, "Wait I have no clue what I am saying. Wow the moth sometimes does not connect to the brain."

Mai's head was suddenly splitting open with pain. Then she was suddenly being lead away by Rin. Mai tried to communicate something to her but it came out all jumbled. Rin seem to understand. Koharu had disappeared. In a few moments they were at the tram. Was it always this short of a walk between the shops and the station?

Mai was very sure that she was really sick. this some type of brain tumor? Did some type of alien parasite slip into my ear and is slowly eating my brain? Her imagination was running wild. " To clear her thoughts, Mai decided to doze on the ride back to the suburbs. Rin was with her so she did not have to worry about any creep trying to grope her. Rin would stomp them into the ground.

Then the dream hit.

* * *

_Mai was sitting at an office desk. _

_She yawned, "This job is sucking the spirit out of me."_

_The door opened. "Mai tea."_

_"Naru! You are here." Mai was surprised for Naru was not expected to reach Japan for another few hours. "We have a case!" Mai jumped up in excitement as both Naru and Lin entered the room. _

_"Mai I have barely gotten in through the door. We are tired from our trip. Tea now. Case later"_

_"Well Yasuhara will be coming soon so if you don't get to read the files by the time he gets here, Yasuhara can massage your shoulders as I serve you tea because I will have to start from scratch right now." Mai waved the files temptingly in his direction. "Maybe I can read the case to you while you wait."  
_

_The boy stared at her blankly then proceeded to walk over and snatch the case file from her. "I can read very well, thank you. Please do your job and make some tea. I will be reading this file in my office. Hold all calls for the hour and visitors for the hour."_

_ He began to walk toward his door. Mai stiffen a snicker before making a peace sign toward Lin, her co-conspirator against Naru. _  
_ Naru said before slamming his door, "Next time, Mai, be prepared."_  
_ "Geez, I did not even know you was going to come in today, jerk, did not know you were back from England."_

_Mai walked into the storage closet but the scene changed. One second she blinked.._

_And the next..._

She opened her eyes to an empty void.

Complete terror filled her whole being. Her throat hurt with an insane amount of dryness. She could barely breathe. Everything around her was dark but as her eyes began to adjust she saw boxes were around her.

Her body ached.

She was so thirsty.

At that moment, she knew who she was - _Mai Taniyama, high school student and part-timer at Shibuya Psychic Research_.

"Help!" but her mouth was so dry she barely could whisper.

She heard someone say, "We have to move her."

Everything grew foggy.

_Then she was standing in the dark. _

_Something chased her._

_She took off running, barefoot through the dark. Soft grass tickled the bottoms of her feet.  
_

_A howl sounded beside her. _

_Something grabbed her _

_She screamed._

_They fought._

_A man said, "You will come with us."_

_No!_

_He reached for her neck._

Mai's eyes snapped open. She was sweating buckets. Her breathe was labored. The chill of the dream had not quite left her so she took a second to warm her arms by rubbing them.

"We are home." Rin said, completely oblivious to Mai's traumatic experience.

"Weren't we just on a train?" Literally, they were standing at the door to Mai's house.

"How did I get here? Did you carry me?

"No"

Walking inside, Mai's mother greeted them, " Mai and Rin. Where is Koharu?"

"She had some business to take care of."

"Did you girls have fun?"

"Yea it was a blast! Mai seems a bit tired though."

"We can't have that. Guess who is here?"

Mai could not think of who would be over. She had pretty much lost contact with all her friends since her sisters had moved home from college. Even at school, she sat alone and did not try to converse or socialize with other students. Her friends were ok with that. She could not trust them anyway. "Uh Dad?'

"Uh no silly." Her mom continued, "We have a guest. It's the boy from next door – Akira. He wants to play."

A boy stood there with brown hair and kind eyes that were dark with confusion.

Mai was almost as confused as the boy looked, but she knew 3 things for for certain. 1) She definitely knew how to make tea. 2) She knew she did not belong in this house 3) Everything around her was an illusion.

**So now Mai knows the truth. Next Chapter will be a Christmas Special Short Story. Then we will follow up with a surprising twist as the spirits become more sinister in whatever scheme they are hatching against Mai and the hunters. What are they trying to accomplish? And why do they need Mai?  
**


	14. Bonus Christmas Special

**Takigawa's Side Job: A Christmas Special**

Ayako frowned as she felt something tickling her lower back. She learned years ago this translated as a sign her path would be crossed by someone with bad luck. She folded her hands in a silent prayer for the nature spirits to guard the unfortunate person.

She turned around the corner of the last street close to her apartment building and ran straight into Hirota.

"Hirota-sama, it is nice to see you."

"Good day to you Ayako-san." He tipped his hat to her. He looked the part of an old film noir hero.

_She would play the femme fatale to his brooding detective any day. _

They talked for a bit but the chilly wind caused them to cut the pleasantries short. The two had just said goodbye when a scream rang out.

Rushing off after the noise, the cop and the miko tore through the back alley until they found a young lady huddling behind a garbage pile. She was terrified.

"Are you ok?" Ayako asked while Hirota patrolled the area with his gun, looking for the culprit.

Nobody could be found.

"It was a demon." The scared girl kept saying.

Hirota took her statement and along with Ayako took her to the hospital. Ayako watched for signs of a spiritual assault following the girl. Once a the hospital she decided to stick close to the victim once she had seen the doctor.

In the waiting room, Ayako and Hirota stopped stunned at the sight they saw.

Takigawa, the Buddhist monk and rocker, who frequently worked with Ayako through Shibuya Psychic Research was currently sitting on the floor amongst a ton of children. Onlookers smiled while watching them. The monk wore a red shirt and playing a black guitar. He sung "Rocking around the Christmas Tree." Beside him was Mai dressed as a strange blue elf with silver stockings and a blue cap. If her intent had been a Christmas elf than, right now she just looked like a fairy reject from SAO.

The instant Takigawa the other two, a veil formed over his face.

"St. Monk, who knew?" Ayako laughed.

Hirota grimaced a bit at the nickname.

Mai yelled, "HOHOHO Merry Christmas Ayako and Hirota!" Her large smile made the other three relax. Mai was just such a cheerful spirit that it was hard to be tense around her.

Ayako frowned, "What she just call me?"

Monk and Hirota gave the sleek suit Ayako wore the once over. Neither felt they could say anything without the comment being taken in an inappropriate way.

Takigawa started a new musical number. Hirota watched the children oooh and ahhh over "Santa" and his "Elf."

The doctor came out to report the girl was fine with minor scratches from what seem like a fight. She would be ok. Her parents were on their way.

Silently, the couple stood watching the Christmas show. If they had knew the songs, they would have sang with the children. Or maybe they woundn't because tension between them was mounting. Clearly it was time for both to leave, yet they didn't.

Hirota ended the silence between them by asking, "How about I buy you lunch?"

Ayako narrowed her eyes on him, "Mr. Cop are you trying to ask me out?"

He blushed.

"Make it coffee and you have a date."

As Hirota and Ayako left, Takigawa stared after them. Mai noticed his expression and cheerfully said, "You know it is really a good thing you do here Bou-san."

"Yea." He guffawed a bit. Reaching over he pulled on her fake elf ears, "I know what it is like to be sick with nothing to do, which made me think of the children in the hospital. It was when I was deathly sick that I learned to play the guitar. It gave me my love of music. My family was not very supportive of me, hence why I left."

Takigawa sung two more songs before ending the show. The crowd started to dissipate as the two packed up.

"Hey Mai, you having another Christmas party at the office?"

"Not sure if Naru would be happy about that."

"Oh well just was asking."

"What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Probably just another boring bachelor day, spent alone without family, eating leftover chicken and rice."

Mai's eyes bore into Takigawa's. "Why don't you go see your family?"

"My family does not observe Christmas. They live in a temple on a mountain. You don't get more international holiday deprived than that." Takigawa added, "Plus I don't feel I have a family any more."

Mai states indignantly, "Of course you have a family. Everyone has a family. I'm your family, Bou-san. Ayako, Masako, Yasuhara, Lin, and John are your family too. Even that mean nonbeliever, Hirota is family now. He's that creepy uncle you see once a year who nobody likes to talk about."

Takigawa burst out laughing.

"Listen, I'm an orphan, I know. I will tell you something Naru told me once after he returned from burying Gene's body. We have three kinds of family. Those you are born to, those who are born to us, and those we chose to let our hearts to. I have you in my heart so I am your family and won't give you up any time soon."

"Thanks Mai."

"The holidays make you are sad right now. That is why you want to do something. It's more fun to spend the season with somebody. If your heart is filled, than you don't notice what you miss so much. I am thinking that even though you left your mountain and your family, they are in you heart too."

Monk went home, thinking about what Mai said.

The next day a loud banging woke him up.

He jumped out of bed in his boxers. Mai was there. She took one look at him and became a deep scarlet color.

"Uh I, uh. Didn't know." Mai stammered. She threw a present at him. "Here! I didn't know you were still sleeping." She ran off...

...Only to double back. She closed her eyes as she bowed. "It would honor me greatly if you would come celebrate Christmas with SPR."

"Thought Naru doesn't celebrate Christmas."

Glancing up, she smirked, "What Naru does not know, won't hurt him." She then blushed as she looked at Takigawa's body and ran away.

He shouted after her, "You're cute when you blush! You like a tomato-cherry hybrid."

"You jerk! Hope you like it! It was something my mom use to give every Christmas to me and my dad."

Smiling he went inside. Deciding to open the present early, he pulled out a scarf. It was homemade, not the type you could get in a store.

"Thanks Mai." Homemade gifts were the best.

Three days later was Christmas Eve. Monk was invited to the office. He decided to wear Mai's scarf. Takigawa noticed as he entered that everyone there had a scarf, even Naru.


End file.
